Spotify, Warner Chappell sign licensing deal to end their legal battle in India

Warner Music had previously filed an injunction to prevent the Swedish firm from offering songs from its roster of songwriters in the country, just prior to the service's launch in India in February last yearVikas SN | ETtech | January 14, 2020, 17:29 IST

Following this agreement, the Bombay High court has dismissed the long-drawn litigation between both the parties after their joint request, the companies said in a statement.

“We’re happy with this outcome. This new deal appropriately values our songwriters’ music and expands our licensed partnership with Spotify to include India” said a Warner Chappell spokesperson.

Warner Music had previously filed an injunction to prevent the Swedish firm from offering songs from its roster of songwriters in the country, just prior to the service's launch in India in February last year. Spotify had contested this injunction, saying its use of the catalog was covered by a statutory license in the country. It had also accused Warner Music Group of abusive behavior that would harm "many non-Warner artists, labels and publishers"

The Bombay High Court had later allowed Spotify to launch its services in India with Warner/Chappell catalog, by asking to deposit Rs 6.5 crore in court and keep tabs on revenue, subscriptions and advertising generated through Warner music streams until the case was decided.

To be sure, Spotify hasn't offered songs from the Warner Music label in the country since its debut last year but has made available songs from Warner's music publishing unit that represents prominent songwriters like Katy Perry, Beyonce, Madonna, Rihanna, and Led Zeppelin among others and claims to have a catalogue of more than one million copyrights worldwide.

"We’re pleased with this agreement, and together with Warner Chappell Music, we look forward to helping songwriters and artists connect with more fans, and for more fans to enjoy and be inspired by their music" said a Spotify spokesperson.